Dispensing-machine.



F. C. KAINER.

' DISPENSING MACHINE. APPLICATION VIILED APR.22,1912.

Patented Mar. 23, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

F. U. KAINER.

DISPENSING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 22, 1912.

1,1 32,587. Patented Mar. 23', 1915.

. ,7 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- THE NORRIS PET-ERS CO., PHOTOJJTHOH WASI-"NGY'JL'. D. f

P. C. KAINER. DISPENSING MACHINE. APPLICATION TILED Anmz, 1912.

Patented Mar. 23, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

THE NORRIS PETERS C0" FHOTG-LITHQ. WASHINGION. D. C;

an snares raanrir ornron.

FREDEBIGK C. KAINER, OF SOUTH HAVEN, MICHIGAN.

DISPENSING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patentedliiar. 2a, 1915.

Original application filed July 14, 1909, Serial No. 507,537. Divided and this application filed. April 22,

To all 101 2. cm it may concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK C. KAINER, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of South Haven, county of Van Buren, State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dispensing-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved mechanism for controlling the repetition of operations of a machine and particularly adapted for use in check controlledvending ma chines and other dispensing apparatus, wherein it is desirable to have the machine perform a predetermined number of repetitions of a certain operation, as for instance, delivery of an article or package in a vending machine after the operation of the machine has been initially started or made possible, for exaniple, by the insertion of a coin into the machine; to pro vide a machine of this class which may be readily arranged or adjusted so as to change the number of operations which the machine will automatically perform after having been started.

The present application is a division of my copending application, filed July 14th, 1909, Serial No. 507,537, in which application claims are made covering features of the check controlled mechanism herein illus trated, but not particularly described and claimed.

A specificembodiment of this invention, as applied to a check controlled cigar vending machine is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section taken on the line rr A of Fi 3, some of the adjacent parts of the vending machine and its casing being omitted, and the parts being shown in their normal initial position, as when the machine is not operating. Fig. 9. is a simi lar section, taken on the line B-B of Fig. 3, the moving parts being shown in relative positions which they occupy at one stage of the operation of delivering a cigar from the machine. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan, showing the repeating mechanism anda portion of the delivery mechanism, the coin chute being in section, and the inclosing casing being omitted. In this view, the gear trains of the spring motor are also omitted, in order to simplify the drawing. Figs. i and 5 are details illustrating diiferent forms of counting wheels respectively designed to Serial No. 692,370.

cause the machine to deliver two or six cigars for each coin. F ig. 6 is a fragmentary detail in perspective, showing the controlling element, the catch which holds itin operating position, and a portion of the mechanism which controls the tripping of the catch. Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail of the repeating mechanism, the parts being shown in the relative positions which they occupy when the machine is stopped. Fig. 8 is a similar view, showing the relative positions of the parts when the machine is in the act of delivering a cigar, and when the repeating mechanism is in position to cause the machine to continue to run after the delivery of the cigar. Fig. 9 is a similar view, showing the relative positions of some of the parts of the repeating mechanism which brings about the stopping of the machine after the delivery of a cigar.

In general terms,'the device illustrated in the drawings is a machine, specifically a cigar vending machine, driven by a motor arranged to normally produce a continuous operation of the machine, but controlled by a controlling element which normally prevents the operation of the machine except for an interval of time after it has been retracted, as for example, in the specific construction shown, by means of the operation of coin controlled mechanism, and which is also provided with repeating mechanism arranged to cause the machine to perform a predetermined number of complete opera-- tions, specifically thesuccessive delivery of a predetermined number of cigars. The machine is also arranged in such manner that although its parts may operate in cycles, the completion of a cycle of operations will affect the further operation of the ma chine only when conditions are such that the completion of such cycle results in the actual delivery of cigar from the machine.

The device shown in the drawings in cludes a machine for vending cigars, a motor for operating said machine, check controlled mechanism comprising a controlling element normally urged into position for stopping the motor and adapted through the presence of a coin or check in a certain position to start the motor, means actuated by a cigar during its delivery from the machine to cause the motor to stop, and repeating mechanism adapted to operate so as to count the number of cigars delivered for each coin and prevent stopping of the machine until a predetermined number of cigars have been delivered.

In the drawings, the vending machine is represented by the fragmentary portions thereof which appear in the various views, the part 1 shown Figs. 2 and 3 being a drum which delivers cigars singly and in succession from the magazine which is not shown.

The motor comprises a spring 3 and a suitable train of gears indicated in some of the views but omitted from Fig. 3 for the sake of clearness of the illustration.

One of the shafts at of the motor has mounted upon it a fan 5 which, through its friction with the air, offers sul'licient resistance to govern the speed of the motor. T he stopping and starting of the motor is controlled by means of a controller element in the form of a lever 6, pivotally mounted at 7 ii the supporting frame and provided with a pin or shoulder S which is movable into and out of the path of the fan through the movement of the lever 6 on its pivot. The lever 6 is counterweighted so that it normally swings to position for stopping the motor. lhe lever 6 has an arm 9 which is bent at right angles near its end as illustrated in Fig. 3, and which carries at its end a horizontally disposed plate or pin 10 which extends into position for receiving a coin from the coin chute 11.

Although the casing of the machine is not shown in the drawing, it will be understood that the upper end 12 of the coin chute is adjacent and in line with a slot in the casing so that coins inserted into the slot will be conducted along the chute.

All

Coins or checks which are of suitable form and material to pass the coin detecting device will be delivered to the pan 10 and supported on edge upon said pan by the adjacent side walls of the coin chute. The counterpoise of the controlling element 6 is such that the weight of a coin or check causes the pan 10 to descend, lifting the detent 8 from engagement with the fan 5 and causing the starting of the motor.

In order to permit the coin to be dis charged from the pan 10 and be forced into a display rack 13 where it can be seen by an attendant during the operation of the machine, there is provided a catch 1% which engages the arm 9 and retains it in its depressed position. This catch 1% is best seen in Fig. 6 and the manner in which it engages the arm 9 will be understood from Figs. 8 and 9. The catch l-t is carried by a horizontal pivot 15, and is so disposed that it falls by gravity to the limit of its move ment to the left of Figs. 7, 8 and 9 when it is not in engagement with the arm 9. The

mechanism for shifting the catch 1ainto and out of engagement with the arm 9 comprises a slotted arm 16 pivotally mounted on a stud 17 on a lever 18 which in turn is pivotally mounted at 19 on the supporting frame. The lever 18 has a forked arm wh ch. engages an eccentric 20 on one of the shafts of the motor so that the lever is caused to oscillate while the motor is in operation. The catch 14 has an upwardly extending arm 21 which extends through the slot in the arm 16 and is bent at right angles at its upper end to prevent it from accidentally slipping out of the slot.

The mechanism which causes the discharge of a check or coin from the pan 10 comprises a link or slide 22 which is pivotally connected at one end to the upper end of the lever 18 and has at its other end a transversely extending shoulder 23 (Fig. which extends into a horizontal slot in one side of the coin chute 11. As the pivot 25 is farther from the pivot 19 than is the pivot 17, the travel of the shoulder 9.3 is considerably greater than that of the arm 16, and during each oscillation of the lever .18, the shoulder 23 sweeps across the pan 10 so as to push off any coin which may be resting thereon. A coin is shown at 26 in Fig. 8 in position on the pan. In order to keep the pan 10 in its depressed position until the catch 14.- has engaged the arm 9, there a dog 27 on the link which prevents the lifting of the pan until the lever 18 has turned to the opposite limit of its movement. During the travel of the coin ejecting link 22 toward the right of Fig. 3, one end of the slot in the arm 16 engages the arm 21 of the catch 14 and pushes said catch into engagement with the arm 9 of the controlling element. 7

The cigar delivering mechanism is represented in the drawing by the pocketed drum 1, indicated in Figs. 2 and S. An arm 28, rigid on a shaft 29, extends into engagement with the arm 16 and controls the elevation of said arm 16. This arm 98 is counterweighted so that it normally holds the arm 16 in the position in which it is shown in 7 When in this position, the arm 19 may push the catch 14 into engagement with the arm 9, but it cannot release saic. catil as the slot in the arm 16 is of such length as to allow the arm 16 to travel back witl: out releasing the catch.

The shaft 29 carries a pair of fingers which extend into the path of cigars c i in the pockets of the delivery drum 1. these lingers 30 are engaged by a ciga 01 or other article which is being delivere the machine as represented in Fig. 2 are swung to one side so as to depress th arm 28 and allow the arm 16 to fall to suitable position for engaging the shoulder 32 on the arm 21 of the catch 14, as ill strated in Fig. 9. When arm 16 is in thi position, it trips the catch and the instant stopping of the machine, since it releases the controlling element and allows the pin 8 to block therotation of the fan 5. In order to cause the machine to deliver a plurality of cigars for each suitable coin'or check, there is provided a movable controlling member preferably in the form of a wheel 33, which is so located as to engage a shoulder 31 on the arm 16 and which is so shaped as to determine whether or not the arm 16 shall engage the shoulder 32 and trip the catch 1%. In the form shown, the wheel 33 is a ratchet wheel having shallow and deep notches arranged in a predetermined order on its periphery. The shallow notches are of such depth that they support the arm 16 above the level of-the shoulder 32, while the deep notches are of sufficient depth to allow the arm 16 to engage said shoulder hen the arm 28 is in its initial or normal position, it supports the arm 1.6 clear of the wheel 33 so that the reciprocating movement of the arm 16 has no effect upon. the wheel. Whenever a cigar is being delivered, the contact of the cigar with the fingers 30 will depress the arm 28, and allow the shoulder at to engage the wheel 33. When in such'position, each oscillation of the lever 18 causes the wheel 33 to be rotated through an angular interval corresponding to one tooth space of the wheel 33, there bein a pawl 35, Fig. 1, which prevents reverse rotation of the wheel 33. The gearing of the motor should be such that the wheel 33 will be advanced through one such annular interval during the delivery of each cigar. If the wheel 33 is of the form shown in Fig. 4:, that is, with alternately shallow and deep notches, then the machine will deliver two cigars for each coin delivered to the pan 10. If the wheel is of the form shown in Fig. 5, there will be six cigars delivered for each proper coin. By changing the arrangement of shallow and deep notches in the periphery of the wheel any number of repetitions of the operation of the machine may be had.

The operation of the device shown is as follows :The normal or initial position of all of the parts is shown in Fig. 1. When a coin is inserted into the coin chute 11, if it passes the coin detecting devices, it will rest upon the pan 10 as indicated at 26 in Fig. 3, and through its weight will lift the detent 8 clear of the fan 5 and start the motor. The motor causes rotation of the delivery drum 1 and operates the other feeoing mechanism to cause cigars to be discharged one at time as indicated in Fig. 2. The rota: tion of the motor also causes the lever 18 to oscillate, causing shoulder 23 on the link 22 to travel back and forth above the pan 10. During its movement to the right of Fig. 3, the lug discharges the coin 26 and pushes it into the display rack where it may be seen by an attendant. During the same movement of the lug 23, the arm 16, through its engagement of the arm 21 of the catch 14, pushes said catch into engagement with the arm 9 of the controlling element 6 and prevents said element from returning to its normal position after the discharge of the coin. If no cigar is in position to be delivered, the motor will continue to run, causing the drum 1 to rotate and causing the link 22 and the arm 16 to travel back and forth in the manner described. During this oper ation, the arm 28 supports the arm 16 in such position that it cannot release the catch 14. As soon as a cigar, through contact with the fingers 30, withdraws the arm 28 from engagement with the arm 16, said arm 16 falls until its shoulder 34 engages the wheel 33. As the oscillation of the lever 18 is timed so as to make one complete forward and backward movement during the interval of time normally required to deliver one cigar, the wheel 33 will be rotated one tooth space for each cigar delivered. As the'first cigar is delivered while the shoulder 3-lis in engagement with a shallow notch in the wheel 33, the wheel will prevent the arm 16 from tripping the catch. This movement will advance the wheel so that during the delivery of the neXt cigar the shoulder 34 will engage a deep notch in the wheel 33 and the arm 16 will accordingly be allowed to engage the shoulder 32 on the arm 21 and will therefore release the catch 14:, causing the machine to come to a stop as soon as the link has moved far enough to the left of Fi 10 to draw the dog 27 clear of the plate 10. It will thus be seen that the machine always stops with the mechanism in the normal initial position indicated in 'Figs. 1 and 7.

The copending application hereinbefore referred to describes and claims the features of the check controlled mechanism and feeding mechanism which are indicated in the drawings, but not described in detail nor claimed in this application.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention is herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details of the construction shown may be altered or omitted, within the scope of the following claims, without departing from the spirit of this invention.

I claim 1. In a device of the class described, thecombination of vending mechanism, a motor for operating said'meehanism, a controlling element movable between positions for stopping and starting said motor and adapted to be moved into position for starting the motor, a catch adapted to secure said controlling element in its starting position, a reciprocating part actuated by said motor and adapted to release said catch through the operation of the motor, and means adapted to'prevent said reciprocating part from engaging said catch and adapted to be retracted through a certain operation of said mechanism.

in a device of the class described, the comoination of motor, means initially holding said motor inactive, means for releasing said holding means, movable counting member adapted when in one position to prevent said holding means from stopping th motor and adapted when moved to a certain other position to allow said holding means to stop the motor, ratchet teeth carried by said movable member, means for engaging said ratchet teeth to advance said member, vending mechanism driven by the motor, and means operated by said mechanism for causing said ratchet-engaging means to advance said counting member at each repetition of the operation of said mechanisn 3. The combination of vending mechanism, a motor adapted to operate said mechanism, means normally holding said motor inactive, mechanism for renderin said holding means inetlective to hold said motor, a counting Wheel mounted to rotate and located in position to prevent the operation of said holding means when said Wheel is in one position and to permit the operation of said holding means when said Wheel is in a different angular position, ratchet means adapted to advance said Wheel, and means operated by said mechanism for controlling said ratchet means.

l. The combination of a motor, means normally holding motor inactive, means for releasing said holding means, vending mechanism driven by said motor, means operated by said mechanism for restoring 40 said motor-holding means to holding condi tion, and means operated by said motor inclependently of said mechanism for delaying the operation said restoring means, said delaying means being adapted to count e16 operations of the mechanism and to permit the operation of said restoring means when said motor has driven said mechani m through a predetermined plural number of operations.

The combination of motor, means norma y holding said motor inactive, means to restore said holding means to condition after it has been released, chanism driven by said motor, ireventing the restoration of said ans to normal condition, said preans being iendered ineffective by t ther with the article delivered l och-an 1 upon each operation of QCditillSlfi, and means arranged to count t is operations of said mechanism and to delay the i 'storation oi said holding means to norniml condition until said mech nism has delivered a predetermined number of the articles.

6. The combination of a motor, vending mechanism operated by said motor, means normally holding said motor inactive, means tending to restore said motor-holding means to holding condition, means operated by engagement with the article delivered by said mechanism and adapted to restore said mo tor holding means to normal condition, and a counting member arranged to temporarily prevent the operation of said restoring means and to permit the operation of the same when mechanism has delivered a predetermined plural number of the articles.

7. lhe combination of a motor, means for starting the operation of said motor, mechanism operated by said motor, means operated by said mechanism for automatically stopping said motor and tending to stop the notor each repetition of a certain operation of d mechanism, and means adapte i to prevent the operation of said stopping means until. said mechanism has performed a predetermined plural number of repetitions of said certain operation,

8. The combination or" a motor, a controlling element normally urged into tion for stopping saic motor adapted to be moved into position to permit the running of said motor, a catch adapted to secure said controlling element in position to permit he running of said motor, a reciprocating part actuated by said motor normally urged into position for releasing said catch, supporting means adapted to prevent reciprocating part from releasing said catc 1, vending mechanism operated by said motor and arranged to retract said supporting means upon each repetition of a certain operation of said mechanism, a counting member adapted to be engaged by said reciprocating part When said supporting means is retracted, said counting member being also adapted to prevent said reciprocating part from releasing said catch except when said counting member has been shifted a predetermined number of times, and ratchet means for shifting said counting member through successive o :-erations of reciprocating part While said supportmeans is retracted by said mechanism, thereby causing the release of said catch upon the repetition of said certain operation oi said mechanism predetermined plural number of times.

Signed in Floyd county, Georgia. this i l h day o January, 1912.

l FlEDEl'll-r ll; 0. iirilhl li itnesses Slims. l'l. SrULLoon, J. llaiiisaun.

{Ionics of this patent ma be obtained for five cents each, h addressing '16 Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 33'. 0 

